Ace Sativas own Old Toker

[orfeas]

You'll have your manhood proven, are they to stretch no more...
But, alas, you'll have it disproved, are they to react otherwise... hydrawise that is

Bold decision though!

Orpheus

 

[Lammy]

OT i like the idea of alerts for your temp or humidity. Sounds real fancy. Once you get some buds on those plants I would want to be able to get the humidity down to 50%. But 60 might be fine. Sounds like you've worked hard on your setup.

 

[gorilla ganja]

Looks a lot better in there already. You'll have to give your wife a big kiss for helping you man up.

It's sucks to have to do that in flower,but I would guess they will be touching the ceiling in a few days again. I do see some bare screen now, so keep tying them around the top. When you can't see the screen you know you've done it right.

Looks like a few branches in the middle are getting pretty close to the light. Maybe just the pic angle?

Peace GG

 

[Old Toker]

OT i like the idea of alerts for your temp or humidity. Sounds real fancy. Once you get some buds on those plants I would want to be able to get the humidity down to 50%. But 60 might be fine. Sounds like you've worked hard on your setup.

Thanks Lammy! Sounds fancy but really wasn't too expensive ($50 US). I'm not so sure that I actually worked hard....more like I've read a lot and threw money at it. Looking at it just from a dollars and cents perspective....and assuming a reasonable yield.....it is still less expensive than buying $300+ oz weed from the cartel.....but a couple of successful grows will make my wife (who doesn't smoke) feel better about the cost of my "hobby".

 

[Old Toker]

It's sucks to have to do that in flower,but I would guess they will be touching the ceiling in a few days again. I do see some bare screen now, so keep tying them around the top. When you can't see the screen you know you've done it right.

Right as usual GG. Found one touching the ceiling this AM.

Looks like a few branches in the middle are getting pretty close to the light. Maybe just the pic angle?

The pics make them look a little closer than they are. They are actually secured to the screen with 12" pipe cleaners.....and I tighten them up periodically(often) to keep them from burning.

I still have to deal with all this foliage. I know leaves are the solar panels and obviously the plants need some of them....more during some developmental stages than others....but I've seen growers swear by almost stripping their plants. Not sure when or even if I should be that radical (now that I have my important man parts back)....but I think that I still need to open up the middle of these plants for circulation. Anyone have any opinions/experience in removing fan leaves? Sure would appreciate some advice....notice I didn't say GOOD advice....don't want to raise the bar too high for you guys.

Regards...

 

[chris harris]

About time you got your own thread.
Just kidding. All looks great. You weren't kidding about them getting rather tall for your tent.
Look forward to seeing them finish for you, and all your hard work pay off.
Hope there are no more issues with your bulb, and the rest of your grow is trouble free.

 

[gorilla ganja]

Well I'm glad you didn't say good advice. Many will disagree with what I have to say.
In the end you have to decide what you think is best for your situation.

I've never done much leaf removal during flower. I am a believer that it can and should be done during the plants entire veg period to control height and allow light to more of the plant indoors. On your next run if you want I can walk you through it as they develop.
It is as much an art as a science and you will learn as you go.

Having said that. You may have to remove some now to allow air flow to prevent mold and allow light penetration in your tight set up.

Leave any leafs that are not going to be a problem. For example on the bottom of the plants.
Now start with the main stalk of the plant and remove fans where the side branches shoot off. I like to leave 1/2 to 3/4 of the leaf stem, the plants will continue to draw energy from them for a couple days until they dry up. I think it helps with stress as well. Then make sure you remove the dried leaf stem as dead plant matter will mold.
Repeat the process on side branches as you feel is needed. If there is a secondary branch coming off the area with leafs of it's own you can remove the fan without much effect to the whole plant.

I hope that made sense. Hard to describe in words. I wish you were closer and I would come over and show you. Like I said It's much better to take a few leafs everyday as the plants grow to control stretch and reduce stress. At this stage just don't go to crazy. Remove a handful from each plant everyday until you feel things are under control.

It may impact yield at this stage but so will mold and lack of light.

Hope this helps

Peace GG

 

[Old Toker]

About time you got your own thread.
Just kidding. All looks great. You weren't kidding about them getting rather tall for your tent.
Look forward to seeing them finish for you, and all your hard work pay off.
Hope there are no more issues with your bulb, and the rest of your grow is trouble free.

Hi CH! Appreciate the compliment and thanks for joining in.
No....no more problems with the bulb. Actually think it might have been an electrical problem like a "brownout". Was watching TV early last evening and the TV & DVR just reset for no apparent reason. Each plugged into different outlets. Fortunately it was during the plants dark period.....so the ballast wasn't affected. I need to get one of those devices that the ballast is plugged into that prevents hot restarts....before I actually DO develop a ballast/bulb problem.
Regards.....

 

[Old Toker]

Well I'm glad you didn't say good advice. Many will disagree with what I have to say.
In the end you have to decide what you think is best for your situation.

I find this to be true about a LOT of growing advice. So little scientific research has been done that we can only rely on each others experience. Unfortunately most of us don't have the training to accurately measure or compare test results....and even if we did we're often too stoned to do it correctly.

IMHO....each grower has to seriously evaluate the poster/person who is the source of the advice. How many other posts have you read from this person? How accurate was their information on methods that you KNOW were correct.

Which brings us to advice from you GG. There are some posters (like you & DWD) that are so consistently wrong that your advice is used as a warning....kind of a safety net that says.....WAIT!! If GG and DWD suggest this method maybe I shouldn't do it. I certainly can't speak for others.....however I REALLY appreciate the service you and he provides. Thank you both!

On your next run if you want I can walk you through it as they develop.

Thank you....I will gratefully accept any help you are willing to provide.

You may have to remove some now to allow air flow to prevent mold and allow light penetration in your tight set up.

Dam....I hate it when you tell me something I already suspected was true....but didn't really want to do.

Hope this helps

Of course it helps....and I really appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me. Still going to try and do just a little at a time to keep the trauma to a minimum......will keep you advised on whether anything dies. Thanks again!

 

[gorilla ganja]

Which brings us to advice from you GG. There are some posters (like you & DWD) that are so consistently wrong that your advice is used as a warning....kind of a safety net that says.....WAIT!! If GG and DWD suggest this method maybe I shouldn't do it. I certainly can't speak for others.....however I REALLY appreciate the service you and he provides. Thank you both!

ummm... Thank you I think

The good news is you will not kill the plants taking leaves off or training them. The bad news is there are plenty of other ways do do that.

cheers GG

 

[Old Toker]

ummm... Thank you I think

I'm sure you and DWD know that I respect both of you and appreciate your advice. Thank you!

 

[deepwaterdude]

Which brings us to advice from you GG. There are some posters (like you & DWD) that are so consistently wrong that your advice is used as a warning....kind of a safety net that says.....WAIT!! If GG and DWD suggest this method maybe I shouldn't do it. I certainly can't speak for others.....however I REALLY appreciate the service you and he provides. Thank you both!

!!can't...type...laughing...too...hard Nice, you old fart, I spilled my coffee! You're just checking if I'm reading up on every bit of drivel and psychodrama already available on your newly minted thread... and sadly, I am
...Was it my "they survive hurricanes, don't be a wimp, hack away" advice? It's true that to the untrained eye, that could lack sensitivity to the plants. Oh, well, a bad reputation is better than none and MINE gets me free seeds to test/torture
Surprised yours are looking so well! Here's some more advice to take at your risk; I don't mess too much with sativas in early flower, try to do all my major pruning/lst beforehand and just deal with it after they get going. That said, a few leaves, no worries... I go by percentage of total plant mass. Never more than 20-25% even in veg, and in flower never so much as to cause a hormonal shift in what the plant's doing, which is plant/strain dependent. Always reduce nutes a bit after a big defol as there's less plant mass to stock them.
Thanks for the laugh, ya bastard, dwd

 

[Guest]

Hi Old Toker!

Sexy girls you got there!

This "any advice at all " comment is good enough for me,so I don't have to post a disclaimer

I have removed quite a lot of fan leaves in my last two runs.They were the first runs I got nanners .It is very strain dependent of course,some like it,some others don't .Actually,most liked it but some threw some nanas at the same time.I will keep it to a minimum next run.At least I'm not doing it again after first week of flo.

I had defoliated Golden Tiger gently once and not a problem.I have also seen a Malawi grow on a greek thread with a lot of plant mass removed and not a scratch.

Of course,there should be other factors involved for my bad experience.But,the main parameter that changed was the plucking.
If you gotta do it,better do it as you said,gradually.It is quite addictive when you start,watch it!

Good luck!

 

[Old Toker]

..I'm reading up on every bit of drivel and psychodrama already available on your newly minted thread... and sadly, I am.

Sad testament to your personality DWD. Watching a rookie grower getting his as* handed to him by a few weeds is difficult to resist watching? Is it any wonder that RTP quit posting in his own thread? It must have been quite a shock to him when he realized WHO he so generously agreed to share his thread with. Sorry again RTP.

...Was it my "they survive hurricanes, don't be a wimp, hack away" advice? It's true that to the untrained eye, that could lack sensitivity to the plants.

Nahhhhh....I actually thought the hurricane and hacking remarks were some of your more sensitive sentiments. I know you don't have time for drama like this.....you have a tent full of girls that you are trying to kill. Thanks to Ace seeds and growers like you... newbie growers like me can still be super-cropping, pruning, and defoliating in the 6th week of flowering....and still manage not to kill these great plants. Thanks for your efforts to newbie proof some of the Ace Seed lines

I don't mess too much with sativas in early flower, try to do all my major pruning/lst beforehand and just deal with it after they get going. That said...

So you're saying I screwed up? That you wouldn't have done it this way? You're not responsible for the advice you're going to give me? And after all that your advice is what...."they survive hurricanes, don't be a wimp, hack away". Thanks.

Seriously.....Thanks a lot brother! I do appreciate the advice. Your advice is a lot better than GGs and Syd's.....but don't tell them.

 

[Old Toker]

Sexy girls you got there!

Perfect.....another perv in the thread. Don't worry Syd....you'll have lots of company here.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. They are not only helpful....but in regards to the GT and Mal.....somewhat reassuring. Appreciate it.
I have a question if you don't mind?
The last two runs that developed nanners....were they mostly/all sativas or indicas? Just wondering/hoping whether sativas might be less affected by stress this far into flowering. Feel free to lie to me about this. I won't know. Even if the plants that developed nanners were landrace sativas....you can just tell me they were 100% indicas...and I'll be happy.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[deepwaterdude]

In all seriousness (very difficult-my face hurts from laughing), the most recent plants i did this with were my 4 green lemon panama clones. I vegged them outside in desert sun for 2 MONTHS and then put them to flower in 5 gal pots in my 5x5. Needless to say, they tried to kill me, the light, the tent, etc, so I supercropped them all at 1 1/2 weeks flower and they didn't like it one bit. I ended up starting over entirely - keeping one outside, giving one away and culling two huge, beautiful plants. I'm smoking the one outdoor I kept; low yield because of bad timing and stress in early flower, still 4 zips of GREAT smoke. I think I have a picture of my tent before they stretched and I freaked.
Then the surviving clone a week before harvest. Coulda done much better.

 

[Guest]

Perfect.....another perv in the thread. Don't worry Syd....you'll have lots of company here.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. They are not only helpful....but in regards to the GT and Mal.....somewhat reassuring. Appreciate it.
I have a question if you don't mind?
The last two runs that developed nanners....were they mostly/all sativas or indicas? Just wondering/hoping whether sativas might be less affected by stress this far into flowering. Feel free to lie to me about this. I won't know. Even if the plants that developed nanners were landrace sativas....you can just tell me they were 100% indicas...and I'll be happy.

As weird as it may seem(or not),only 50-50 hybrids or mostly indicas had them nanas,and I wouldn't lie (or would I? )I'm not talking about a regular sausage fest ,most had just some here and there that stopped after me plucking them.

I would think,too, that those longer flowering girls would mind less than the indies.

Cheers OT!

Edit-Dwd,gotta check on your past grows,you made a proper jungle in there...

 

[Old Toker]

I ended up starting over entirely...

Switch vertical for horizontal and that overgrown room looks somewhat familiar. This is one of the reasons your advice is so valuable....you've done it. Occasionally screwed up and not too embarrassed to admit it....and willing to share so other growers can learn from your mistakes. Question: where the hell was this story 8 weeks ago when I MIGHT have benefited from it? I'm committed to this grow now....good, bad or low yielding....with the your help, and the help of others, I'm bringing this baby home.

I'm fairly certain I have an understanding of my situation....and what needs to be done. Seems 5 weeks into flowering is NOT the most opportune time to be screwing with your plants. I HAVE to thin these plants out....otherwise circulation is going to suffer and I risk developing that four letter word....mold. However.....I also HAVE to be careful when pruning/thinning because too much, too fast could stress the plants and affect yield and/or cause nanners.

Fortunately I am growing Ace genetics and I have confidence that these girls are going to make it in great shape to harvest. Hell....I'm growing only for me....how much yield do I really need? I just need to keep them alive and not screw up too badly during the next 8 weeks. No problem.

Your grow is looking great DWD!

Also ....if whatever you are doing for a living doesn't pan out.....forget about getting a job working the suicide hotliine. It's just not you brother.

 

[deepwaterdude]

Also ....if whatever you are doing for a living doesn't pan out.....forget about getting a job working the suicide hotliine. It's just not you brother.

I thought that tent would look something like your before flip picture.

And hey, I'm really quite sensitive... to plants and animals. So you're probably right about the hotline... I could pick up the bodies?
Thanks for the kind words about my having failed so much in the past so that newbies may succeed... This is a good take on things Check out Zanddar's grows to see a pro documentarian, but without the failure

Your yield will be stupefying one way or the other; those are big plants and they like that light. Seedless is another question!

 

[Old Toker]

As weird as it may seem(or not),only 50-50 hybrids or mostly indicas had them nanas,and I wouldn't lie (or would I? ).

No you wouldn't!! It's just as I suspected...sativas are completely immune to nanners and stress related issues like reduced yield. Thanks for the confirmation.
At this point all I can do is to go forward and hope for the best. Thanks again for the help!